The present invention relates to apparatus for picking up electrical biological signals, and more specifically auditory evoked potentials generated by acoustic and/or electrical and/or mechanical stimulation of the cochlea, or of a portion of the auditory system in man or animal
Traditionally, auditory evoked potentials are measured with extracorporeal devices using surface electrodes applied to the skin of the patient. Such equipment picks up far field auditory evoked potentials which mainly comprise:
early auditory evoked potentials (commonly referred to by the initials ABR). These potentials are normally made up of seven waves (xe2x80x9cLes potentiels xc3xa9voquxc3xa9s auditifsxe2x80x9d [Auditory evoked potentials ] by J. M. Guerit, 1993 published by Masson, Paris at pages 87 to 99 on evoked potentials), with the wave 1 being generated mainly by the ramifications of the auditory nerve along the internal hair cells;
medium latency auditory evoked potentials (referred to by the initials AMLR);
late auditory evoked potentials (referred to by the initials ALCR); and
cognitive evoked potentials (referred to by the initials ACR).
Such extracorporeal devices for picking up auditory potentials require a great deal of care and time to be put into operation. In addition, on safety grounds, it is essential to have complete metallic isolation between the machine and the person under test. The results obtained do not always accurately represent real auditory activity since standard equipment is specifically too sensitive to interfering electrical noise: stimulation artifacts; 50 Hz or 60 Hz from the electricity mains; high frequency interference; etc. . . . . Similarly, such equipment is disturbed by non-auditory biological activity. Furthermore, result reproducibility is degraded by fluctuations in the resistivity of the skin and by impedance drift due in particular to moving electrodes which can shift during a test, and which above all can be positioned differently from one examination to another. In order to restrict these drawbacks at least in part, it is possible to make use of anesthetics, in particular when performing tests on children, but that can give rise to other non-negligible drawbacks.
There also exist implanted devices for picking up auditory evoked potentials such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,651 or application WO 97/48447, which measure cochlear activity following electrical stimulation thereof.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,651 describes a telemetry system for a hearing prosthesis, in particular for a cochlear implant. The system has a plurality of electrodes which are used to stimulate the auditory nerve and to detect the evoked potentials; in an example described in that document, the potential difference between an intracochlear electrode and an extracochlear electrode is measured; that potential difference is applied to the input of a xe2x80x9cblankingxe2x80x9d amplifier of gain adjustable over the range 40 dB to 80 dB; in a variant, that document proposes using a differential amplifier.
Document WO 97/48447 describes an adjustment system integrated in a cochlear stimulation implant; the system uses two means for measuring auditory perception by the patient: firstly an intracochlear electrode for measuring evoked potential, and secondly an electrode (or transducer) for measuring the activity of one of the two muscles of the middle ear (xe2x80x9cstapediusxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ctensor tympanixe2x80x9d).
The document by Carolyn J. Brown et al. published in J. Acous T Soc AM, Vol. 88, No. 3, September 1990, pages 1385 to 1391, describes a method of measuring evoked potentials in which use is made firstly of one of six intracochlear electrodes of the stimulation implant, and secondly of an electrode placed on the temporal muscle.
Those devices pick up solely a near field auditory evoked potential because one of the pickup electrodes is immersed in the cochlea and is as close as possible to the activity to be measured. That near field potential which represents the initial excitation of the auditory system is commonly referred to as evoked action potential (EAP). It does not give information about the other levels of the auditory system: cochlear nucleus, coliculus inferior, primary and secondary auditory areas, and associative areas. Furthermore, EAP cannot be recorded directly because of artifacts generated by electrical stimulation too close to the pickup electrodes. In order to obtain a meaningful EAP, it is necessary to make use of so-called xe2x80x9csubtractivexe2x80x9d techniques that serve to remove the artifacts and allow the EAP to be extracted on its own. Both techniques are described in particular in the above-mentioned document by Carolyn J. Brown et al.
The device of the invention makes it possible to remedy the drawbacks of existing evoked potential pickup devices.
In a first aspect, the invention consists of such a device which includes at least two extracochlear pickup electrodes for implanting, which pickup electrodes are connected to the (positive and negative) input terminals of a differential amplifier integrated in a package, likewise designed to be implanted; in addition, the package includes a system for transmission through the skin, with or without signal processing, thereby enabling an external device to receive information concerning the auditory evoked potentials that have been picked up. Such a device enables activity to be recorded at each level of the auditory system and to evaluate periodically the functional state of the auditory system as a whole from the cochlear to the associative cortex; measurements can be taken almost simultaneously, artifacts are practically non-existent, and the constant position and impedance of the pickup electrodes over time keeps down measurement inaccuracy and makes good reproducibility possible. Finally, the relative distance of the pickup electrodes from the cochlear site makes it possible to obtain direct and accurate measurements of all of the far field auditory evoked potentials described above: ABR, AMLR, ALCR, and ACR. In addition, ABR wave 1 makes it possible by equivalence (cf. Buckard et al., J Acous Soc Am, 93 (4), pp. 2069-2076, April 1993) to measure the same activity as EAP activity and to do so without any need to resort to a xe2x80x9csubtractivexe2x80x9d technique. The device of the invention thus makes it possible to examine and evaluate overall activity of the auditory system in a single operation, including the possibility of recording results. When coupled with a cochlear implant, it also makes it possible to optimize the adjustments thereof, quickly and in xe2x80x9cobjectivexe2x80x9d manner, particularly on young children, which is not possible with any previously known device.
The invention relies in part on the observation whereby it is possible to measure in reliable manner the electrical potentials that result from neuronal activity of the auditory system by means of at least two electrodes that are remote from the cochlea; one advantage lies in the device being easier to implant surgically; another advantage lies in the measurement system being less sensitive to artifacts due to the cochlear being stimulated. An essential feature of the measurement method and device of the invention is that because of the external position (relative to the cochlea) of the measurement (i.e. pickup) electrodes, the potential differences that are measured represent physical phenomena that are quite distinct from those represented by measurements using an intracochlear electrode.
Another important advantage of the invention is that it is possible to make use of measurement electrodes that are larger than those which can be implanted in the cochlea; this gives rise to contact impedance between the electrode and tissue which is smaller and which can be kept substantially constant over time; the accuracy and the repeatability of measurements are thus improved; furthermore, the size of the electrode enables it to be associated with a screw passing through the electrode and enabling it to be secured to bony tissue, thereby improving both the stability over time of its impedance, and also possibly contributing to securing the package of the implant itself.
The measurement technique of the invention is much less sensitive to electrical stimulation artifacts; consequently it is possible to measure and study evoked potentials in the xe2x80x9ctime windowxe2x80x9d of about 400 xcexcs following stimulation, unlike the systems described in the above documents; in addition, the device of the invention is simplified since there is no need for a blanking amplifier, and since there is no longer any point in providing for the electrodes to be short-circuited or open-circuited.
Given that the amplitudes of the detected potential differences are very small, in particular of the order of 0.1 microvolts (xcexcV) to 1 xcexcV, i.e. 100 to 1000 times smaller than those measured when a measurement electrode is placed in the cochlea, a third measurement electrode is generally provided which serves as a reference and which is connected to the ground terminal of the differential amplifier: this makes it possible to increase the output signal-to-noise ratio to a considerable extent.
In preferred embodiments:
the pickup electrodes, of which there are at least two, are situated on either side of the implantable amplifier-transceiver package in substantially diametrically opposite positions; while the electrodes are being surgically implanted, this makes it easy to align them on the portion of the associated auditory system so as to optimize the amplitudes of the signals picked up;
the pickup electrodes can be movable relative to the package so as to be positioned optimally during the operation by the surgeon, e.g. so as to be accurately parallel to the cerebral trunk, and properly spaced apart from each other; to this end, the electrodes are preferably mounted at the end of a support such as a flexible catheter of silicone covering the conductive wire linked to the package;
alternatively, the pickup electrodes can be placed on a support in the form of a flexible plate extending around the transceiver package; after surgical implantation, this makes it possible for the practitioner to make use of a multiplexing device incorporated in the implanted package to select two pickup electrodes (from a plurality of implanted electrodes) for forming the best couple for sensing the activity that is to be measured; and
the reference pickup electrode is disposed close to or on the implantable package.
When the implantable device incorporated means for stimulating the auditory nervous system:
the reference stimulation electrode can be mounted to move relative to the package so as to be positioned optimally on the basis of tests performed during the operation, and can then be fixed durably by the surgeon; this optimization can consist in ensuring that the line constituted by the stimulation electrodes and the stimulation reference electrode forms a stimulation dipole that is perpendicular to the line interconnecting the two pickup electrodes, so as to reduce the stimulation artifact;
a plurality of fixed stimulation reference electrodes can be provided connected downstream to a multiplexing device integrated in the package; after surgical implantation, this makes it possible for the practitioner to select the stimulation reference electrode which best reduces the stimulation artifact; and
provision can also be made for a plurality of pickup electrodes and for a plurality of stimulation reference electrodes to be connected to two respective multiplexing systems thereby enabling adjustments to be optimized after surgery, and thus avoiding the need to perform tests during the operation.
In some cases, the pickup reference electrode can be the same as the stimulation reference electrode.
The physiological signals as picked up, in particular the auditory evoked potentials, are transferred to the outside via the implanted transceiver package by wireless transmission (e.g. at high frequency and by amplitude or frequency modulation).
The device comprising the pickup electrodes, the pickup reference electrode, and the implantable transceiver package can be coupled to or integrated with a device for acoustic, and/or electrical, and/or mechanical stimulation that can be extracochlear and/or intracochlear. In which case, it constitutes a stimulation implant fitted with a telemetry device serving to evaluate or monitor its action. By way of example, the device of the invention can:
either be a cochlear implant for severe or profound deafness, having one or more intracochlear stimulation electrodes fitted with a device for picking up auditory evoked potentials enabling optimum adjustments to be made of detection thresholds, of discomfort thresholds, and of the acoustic-electrical compression function;
or an auditory implant for severe or profound deafness including one or more extracochlear stimulation electrodes; such an implant preferably includes an electrical stimulation electrode suitable for fixing to the stapes; it is naturally fitted with the same device for picking up auditory evoked potentials enabling optimum adjustments to be performed;
or an auditory implant for medium or severe deafness including a device for stimulating the auditory system mechanically such as a vibrator, which device is preferably suitable for positioning on the oval window of the cochlear, or in the mastoid;
or else an implant for canceling tinnitus, fitted with a device for picking up auditory evoked potentials so as to achieve optimum adjustment of the electrical stimulation.